I bet you thought I was never coming back. Well, child, here I am, ready to reveal every secret, every hope and dream, everything that is stored deep in the caverns of my skull.
Or not. Actually, definitely not. It would be impossible and anyway you definitely do not want access to the lower, hidden depths of my being. No, sir, you do not. Even Billy knows better not plumb the depths of me.
What I will do is provide you with a general accounting of certain aspects of my life (insert yawn here). Thrilling, I know, but whatever. I don't get paid to do this, ya dig?
Really, though, I do try to be thoughtful about what I write about here, especially as concerns other people. As you know, I don't often reveal too much about other people in this blog, and when I do it's because I've determined the material won't embarrass or incriminate them. The reason I bring this up is because I have some good material, but am not sure what I want to divulge. Whatever, let's get this dog and pony show on the road.
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I finally got to go camping this year. Near the end of last week, Kat invited me to join her for the weekend at the New England Brewfest up in Tamworth, NH. I'm not much of a beer connoisser, especially as concerns home brewing, but it sounded fun, especially the part about camping on site, and it's important to be spontaneous and do stuff in life that might actually be fun.
So both us were able to get out of work early on Friday and from Kat's place up in Manchester we took her blue box truck/camper up to Tamworth. We stopped for groceries and grabbed dinner at a cozy little restaurant on the way.
I didn't know what to expect, but I was glad that I didn't talk myself out of the trip. We arrived at the campground a little after sunset. The festival was in full effect in a field near the entrance. Kat's friend, Jodi, had reserved us a camp site at the end of a dirt road in the woods, the far perimeter of the campground. A fine location; we could experience some quiet and wouldn't be subjected to sounds of revelry coming from the festival.
Because Kat's truck had screened windows and a large bunk in the back, we didn't have to worry about setting up tents. This was good, because it was pretty dark in those woods. We unpacked a bit and then met up with Kat's friends, which was pretty much Jodi and her family, at the fairground. We were given cups and went around to some of the brewer's booths to sample some beer, all of which was strong in flavor and not very much to my liking.
The next day was more of the same, but with other activities mixed in. Kat had brought a couple of mountain bikes and I spent the good chunk of early part of the day riding through the campground. I hadn't ridden a bike in years and it was thrilling! I was pleased to discover that not only did it all come back to me fairly quickly, but my body didn't have an adverse reaction to the activity. No, I felt as hale, or seemingly so, as when I was I younger. Perhaps all the yoga is paying off.
Perhaps.
Periodically, I'd join everyone at the fairground. I was all for drinking all day and into the night, but not with these beers (it wasn't until later on in the night when I found a booth with beers that didn't need to be eaten with a spoon). I ended up drinking some and then heading back to the camper to read some Gurdjief, the Russian philosopher/mystic. That was the pattern of the day, albeit with some modifications.
Throughout the day, I encountered people smoking grass who were kind enough to share. Since everyone was pretty much drunk at this event and I wasn't going to be doing that much drinking, my plan was to smoke a bunch. The plan came to fruition nicely. At some point I lost track of Kat. I saw her friend Mary at one point and she said Kat had gone off with a couple of people. I didn't see her until later on that evening.
I ended up by myself through the late afternoon into the evening. Part of me was ok with it but another part felt lonely. Every once in a while I'd see some of Kat's friends, but I didn't really have too much of a connection with them. And, you know, talking to a bunch of inebriated people when you're not is often kind of a drag. People get kind of dopey and unintelligible when they're in their drink. That is fine, no judgment here, but, unless I'm buzzed or drunk, too, it can be a drag. Fortunately, a really good bluegrass band called The Crunchy Western Boys took the stage when it got dark and played an amazing, flawless set. Kat's friend Mark, a fellow guitar player, was a big fan of the band and was thrilled they were booked at this event. We stood and watched together.
Near the end of their set, I walked back to the camper in the dark and read some more Gurdjieff. I had an epiphany that I should go back and talk to the fiddle player from the band. "I bet he'll have some weed", I thought. I don't know why I thought this but there it was.
So I went back and, wouldn't you know it, hung out with the fiddle player by the side of the stage. He had a lit joint in hand when I approached. We talked music and smoked some. Weird and fortuitous how that turned out.
The whole trip felt like a dream and that was because so much of what I saw and did had already played out in past dreams. No shit, man. Between feeling like I was in a dream almost the entire time and having my mind bent and trod upon by Gurdjief, I was really somewhere else. Felt good. I needed to be somewhere else. I was feeling oppressed in the city and pretty much everywhere else and needed to be outside in the woods. Good medicine.
As the night neared its end, I retired to our campsite and played some songs in the dark for a couple of hours. Two of Kat's friends had a tent nearby. They asked me to keep playing through the night if I could. That was nice to hear.
A good trip and I'm glad I went. One reason I like hanging out with Kat is because in a lot of ways she's fearless and not afraid to be spontaneous. She helps me get out of my comfort zone, which I'm not always inclined to do on my own. We had a good time.
Alright, this mega post needs to end. I'm house sitting for Janelle and Bill while they're away in France. Aside from some craziness with the Baby Boy Z yesterday, it's been nice having a quiet place to myself.
There is more to catch up on, but not tonight. I'll report back sooner than later.
Namaste
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